Five selections for tonight’s card

LAS VEGAS -- The Mariners have won four of Hisashi Iwakuma’s (3-1, 1.61 ERA) past five starts, and he’s allowed only eight earned runs in 44 2/3 innings of work this season.

He doesn’t need a lot of support to be effective. Give him two runs and he usually makes a lead stick. In five of his seven starts, he’s allowed one run or less, which is Cy Young type of material.

Tonight, he takes on an A’s squad that hasn’t been hitting well, a team he beat 7-1 on April 2 in Oakland. The A’s are collectively hitting .218 in May and averaging only 2.6 runs a game. They’re 2-6 record for the month and are coming off being swept in four games at Cleveland, where they were outscored, 21-8.

The Mariners are hitting only .199 in May, but have a 4-2 record, and we think we’ll see another low-scoring game with Iwakuma coming out on top. It hasn’t been a good idea to bet the A’s UNDER this season – OVER has hit in 27 of their 36 games – but during their recent power outage, they have stayed UNDER the total in four of their last seven games.

Dodgers go for eight straight

Jose Fernandez (1-2, 3.48 ERA) has gotten only 10 runs of support from the Marlins in his six games pitched, but they have won half of those starts, a fortunate result considering their MLB-worst 10-25 record. Fernandez is coming off the best outing of his career, a one-hit, seven-inning performance in a 2-0 win over the Phillies on Saturday.

We think tonight’s game in L.A. is a great spot for the Marlins to get a win, and not just because the Dodgers have lost seven games in a row. Fernandez should thrive in the cool night air at Dodger Stadium.

Matt Magill (0-0, 7.88 ERA) makes his third start of the season and comes off a Saturday night beat down against the Giants, where he couldn’t make it out of the second inning and allowed five runs, six hits and four walks in 10-9 loss.

Should the Dodgers lose, their eight-game losing streak would be their worst since Aug. 22-29, 2008. An interesting side note to this game between cellar dwellers is that the Dodgers’ payroll of over $200 million has produced only 13 wins, while the Marlins’ $45 million has produced 10 wins.

Wandy to the rescue

The Pirates have lost four of their last five games and need some help to end the skid. Left-hander Wandy Rodriguez (2-2, 4.02 ERA) should be the answer at Citi Field tonight. Rodriguez is 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last four starts against the Mets, and what makes Rodriguez even more attractive is that the Mets are having difficulties against lefties.

In the Mets’ last nine starts against lefties, they have an awful .192 average. Really, the Mets' bats have struggled against any pitcher in key situations, hitting .192 with runners in scoring position over their last 15 games.

Somehow, Shaun Marcum (0-2, 7.20 ERA) is getting some respect in this game, as the Pirates are only -110. He started the season on the DL and hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning in either of his two starts.

Is Kazmir for real?

After getting whacked in his first start of the season, the Indians’ Scott Kazmir has been sensational, allowing only five runs over his past three starts. His win last week against the Twins was his first since 2010. On Thursday, he struck out 10 A’s in a 9-2 win, allowing only one run in six innings to pick up his second win.

So the question is, is this just a freak type of thing, or can we expect more of the same from Kazmir? Should we bet against him or ride his fountain of youth?

The LVH’s Ed Salmons, one of the sharper baseball minds in Las Vegas, believes the better value than waiting for Kazmir to implode is to simply bet the OVER each time out. The Indians have put up 16 runs combined over his last two starts, both of which went OVER the total.

Between the Indians bats, and the perceived value on totals that Kazmir might have over his next two starts, the best strategy involving Kazmir might be to bet his games OVER. Next up for Kazmir is C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees on Monday.

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